Best Places In The World To Retire

The Yucatan Peninsula was divided into three states: Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo.
 
To determine the cost of food in a certain area, we have to first start in general terms with how expensive is the area. Cities like Merida (oldest city in the Yucatan Peninsula and part of the state of Yucatan) that are big, with more than 1 million people, is one of the cheapest places to live. Why? Because people have so many alternatives. We have a lot of the supermarket chains and the...

The Yucatan Peninsula was divided into three states: Campeche, Yucatan, and Quintana Roo.
 
To determine the cost of food in a certain area, we have to first start in general terms with how expensive is the area. Cities like Merida (oldest city in the Yucatan Peninsula and part of the state of Yucatan) that are big, with more than 1 million people, is one of the cheapest places to live. Why? Because people have so many alternatives. We have a lot of the supermarket chains and the cost of living in the area is very cheap. You could live in Merida or in other parts of the state of Yucatan that have a high density of people for US $1,500 a month and you would be living a very nice life. 
 
Quintana Roo was a fisherman’s town that was incorporated into a state in the 1970s. It is young in comparison to Merida, which was founded in 1542. The gives you an idea that the Yucatan is very unique. Cancun, Cozumel, and Playa Del Carmen, which are in the state of Quintana Roo, are touristic markets, so everything is more expensive; starting from real estate up to the food that is brought in because food is not produced there. Most of the food that is being brought to those areas is brought from the central parts of Mexico and that causes the prices to increase.

 

(Papadzules, a traditional dish made from pumpkin seeds from Yucatan, Mexico, pictured.)

There is no hiking in Casco Viejo. You cannot go camping in Casco Viejo, either. There is hiking and camping around Casco Viejo but not inside of it since Casco Viejo is the old city of Panama. Government offices and the presidential palace is also located in Casco Viejo.
 
The closest you can go for hiking is Cerro Ancon, which is around 5 minutes away by car. Cerro Ancon is a national landmark so it is very popular for tourists and local Panamanians, too. Local Panamanians...

There is no hiking in Casco Viejo. You cannot go camping in Casco Viejo, either. There is hiking and camping around Casco Viejo but not inside of it since Casco Viejo is the old city of Panama. Government offices and the presidential palace is also located in Casco Viejo.
 
The closest you can go for hiking is Cerro Ancon, which is around 5 minutes away by car. Cerro Ancon is a national landmark so it is very popular for tourists and local Panamanians, too. Local Panamanians always take their families to Cerro Ancon. Any Panamanian family would always have a classic family photo taken at Cerro Ancon. In my case though, my family went to Cerro Ancon when I was still too little so my parents took my two older siblings and left me behind. 
 
You can also go to Parque Natural Metropolitano, which is in the center of Panama City or to Parque Soberania for hiking. In Parque Natural Metropolitano, you can pay and entrance fee of US $5 and you can already go on the trails or stay at the park. Since Parque Natural Metropolitano is in the center of Panama City, it provides clean air to the city. It produces oxygen because of the plants. If you are in Panama City, it would take you about 10 minutes to get there. 
 
Parque Soberania is a park, which is also about 45 minutes away from Casco Viejo and it is near Gamboa. Parque Soberania is very beautiful; it is one of Panama’s rainforests.
 
Camping is not a popular activity here in Panama but if you want to go camping, you can go to Isla Iguana in the Los Santos province, which is in near Pedasi in the Azuero Peninsula. Isla Iguana is a wildlife refuge so it is very beautiful.
 
You can also go to San Blas islands on the Caribbean side of the country and pay a small fee so you can camp there. San Blas is very beautiful and it has very clear waters. You can to San Blas by car, which is about a two hour drive from Casco Viejo. Then you can take a boat to go to the different islands. Some of the islands are too far that you have to go there by plane.  

 

(Bridge of the Americas as seen from Cerro Ancón, Panama, pictured.)

I'm not technically allowed to give tax advice because I am not a licensed accountant, CPA, or tax attorney but I can comment that there are some generally well-known schemes.
 
For Americans, the bottom line is we're required to pay taxes on worldwide income regardless of where we live or for how long we lived there. You can move out of America and for never come back, but you still have to pay taxes. You still have to declare your taxes in America and pay whatever you owe.
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I'm not technically allowed to give tax advice because I am not a licensed accountant, CPA, or tax attorney but I can comment that there are some generally well-known schemes.
 
For Americans, the bottom line is we're required to pay taxes on worldwide income regardless of where we live or for how long we lived there. You can move out of America and for never come back, but you still have to pay taxes. You still have to declare your taxes in America and pay whatever you owe.
 
This is not the case for other countries.  In Spain, for example, if people want to change their tax domicile to a different country, they can do that. They wouldn't have to pay taxes and fees anymore. It's not like that in America. A lot of people think if they leave America that they don't have to pay taxes but that’s not true. You definitely need to hire a licensed person to look at your exact situation and give you advice. There are a lot of expats who are accountants out there. Qualified tax advice for expats is definitely something that's becoming more in demand as more people move and technology gets better and becomes easier and cheaper for people to travel and move around.
 
For US citizens, there’s also an income tax exclusion.  Over the years it has increased to now it’s over $100,000 per year.  There are a few different ways to qualify for it. One of the ways that people talk about it a lot is being outside of the country for 330 days a year. There are other ways to qualify for it. Any accountant who deals with these international matters would know.
 
Another thing to be aware of is that you have to declare your accounts. It's a pretty big topic. It's very complex and our tax code is very complex. There's a lot to think about. For this reason, I have never done my taxes on my own. It just gets complicated especially if you're living and working in more than one country. 
 
There are, perhaps, ways to reduce your US tax liability.  I know of a lot people who didn’t even file their taxes for 3 years or 5 years. Make sure you're on top of it so that you don't run into any sort of problems or penalties or things like that down the road. It's better to be upset about filing and paying now and get through it the right way than to avoid it and just assume that you don't have to pay anything and get in trouble later.

 

(Pictured: Kristin Wilson working in Costa Rica in a hammock.)

In Nicaragua, they use a lot more artisanal construction methods. They use a lot of re-bar, a lot of iron, a lot of stone, a lot of cement, a lot of zinc, a lot of steel. There are very few houses made of wood. There are very few houses with poured concrete. There are very few houses with shingled roofs. There are a few but it’s usually only Nicaragua’s elite that has them. So construction methods here are more rustic and use a lot more basic materials—cement, re-bar,...

In Nicaragua, they use a lot more artisanal construction methods. They use a lot of re-bar, a lot of iron, a lot of stone, a lot of cement, a lot of zinc, a lot of steel. There are very few houses made of wood. There are very few houses with poured concrete. There are very few houses with shingled roofs. There are a few but it’s usually only Nicaragua’s elite that has them. So construction methods here are more rustic and use a lot more basic materials—cement, re-bar, zinc.
 
Other than that you can find construction that uses the newest methods.  The WalMart store, for example, is very similar to a Wal-Mart in the US. So while construction methods can vary, in the general sense most of what you see is basically concrete and steel.  

 

(Nicaraguan house, pictured.)